Cats Hold No Grudges

Gnocchi and Pancake in quieter moments

Last night Amy wasn’t feeling well

and went right to bed after dinner.

At 7:30, I stopped my vacuuming

to get Pancake and Gnocchi in.

They were reluctant.

They know the balmy days of summer

are winding down

and they want to soak in every moment.

I closed the window we open to let

them have free access in and out all day long.

Usually they come ambling in with the rattle

of the treat bag,

but this night they pretended to be deaf,

So one by one I pick them up

and carry them in,

feeling puffed up with pride

at getting them in for the night,

not realizing Amy had left the

garage door open just a little.

Both escaped before I noticed.

For the next three hours at intervals

I called “Kitty.  Kitty.  Kitty” and

rattled the treat sack.

Then sitting out on the front porch,

Pancake would walk right up to my chair

slithering back and forth,

darting if I moved a muscle.

I knew I couldn’t catch her.

DeRay got home around 11,

and finally Pancake was waiting at the

backdoor when I went down for one last attempt.

Gnocchi, whom I didn’t know was out for sure,

because I had seen neither hide nor hair of him,

came in around 10 PM.

I was pretty perturbed at Pancake

and wouldn’t let her out this morning.

“Tit for tat” as Ed would say.

Amy let her out before she left for work.

I’m still not speaking to her.

Later, as I sit out on the lounge chair on the deck

she helps herself to my water

and licks my dish

like we’re intimate buddies.

When I fall asleep,

she jumps up on me and nuzzles my nose.

I should be more like a cat

And let bygones be bygones.